E-cigarettes have become a major health problem for school-aged youth. The Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues (CIRLI) educational strategy developed at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago prepares K-12 teachers to integrate prevention of e-cigarette use into classes across grade levels and subject areas. Students can be effectively engaged in learning by study of this life issue that affects their daily lives.
The Problem
In 2019 more than 27 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes, a sharp increase from 20.8 percent in 2018. 1.6 million school-aged youth used e-cigarettes regularly (on more than 20 occasions per month). Juul, the major company providing vaping products in the United States targeted sales to youth by producing e-cigarettes with a variety of attractive flavors. While e-cigarettes have been marketed as a safe alternative to cigarettes, they are in fact very harmful.
· As of November 5, 2019 there were 2291 cases of lung injury, including 48 deaths, attributed to e-cigarette use and vaping in the U.S.
· E-cigarettes adversely affect development of the adolescent brain including negative effects on attention and memory.
· Youth who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely to move on to cigarettes than youth who do not use e-cigarettes.
· E-cigarettes contain a substantial amount of nicotine, which is highly addictive. One pod of Juul contains nicotine equivalent to 20 cigarettes.
CIRLI prepares k-12 teachers across grade levels and subject areas to integrate into their classes study of e-cigarette use or other real life issues their students face. Evidence-based prevention strategies are incorporated into the life issues curriculum.
· In language arts classes students can read, write and speak about use of e-cigarettes
· In math classes students can work with data on the numbers of e-cigarette users and the damage e-cigarettes do
· In social studies classes students can study how the e-cigarette industry has targeted young people; they can compare marketing of e-cigarettes to past marketing of tobacco and alcohol targeting youth
· In science classes students can study the physiological effects of e-cigarette use
Through CIRLI teachers learn evidence-based prevention strategies that can be readily incorporated into classes. These include:
· Engaging students in community-based prevention, including e-cigarette prevention campaigns in the school community
· Increasing perceptions of the personal risk of use of e-cigarette
· Building student concern for the harm e-cigarettes can do to others
· Building student decision making capacity, including the capacity to resist peer pressure
The CIRLI curriculum is always consistent with class learning objectives. Assignments are designed to build student skills in research, analysis and communication, helping students reach Common Core State Standards.
For questions contact
Dr. Ron Glick, Professor Emeritus and Director of the Network for Dissemination of
Curriculum Infusion (NDCI) at NEIU.
You can find information about the Curriculum Infusion of Real Life Issues
educational strategy on the NDCI website—www.cirli.org.
